Happy Halloween

Every year I think the same thought: Halloween is such a weird holiday. It's cute when the lil kids dress up and go trick-o-treating, but it's just weird to see adults getting really into this whole costume thing.

I'm on the admissions committee here and I had a few thoughts about the Ideal Medical School Candidate. Obviously we want diverse students and there is not one "perfect" candidate but here's what I want to point out. It doesn't matter how good your grades are if you took easy courses and took the minimum requirements only. It doesn't matter what you major in, though I am particularly impressed with those who major in non-science because it demonstrates discipline in order to finish the premed reqs as well as genuine intellectual curiosity and interest. Extracurricular activities do matter a lot; they need to include significant commitment to volunteer activities and at least some research. Otherwise, you can't tell me that you want to be a doctor so that you can help people if you haven't done any service in your community and you can't tell me that you have the "life-long learner" quality if you've never had a research project. Finally, don't say weird things at your interview like "I want to come to your school because Chicago is a great city. Oh and you have a good name." Another tip is don't talk too much about (or at all) about your significant other, unless you're married.

Enough of that.

Tonight, we went to Wildfire and it was such a treat!! We started out with crab stuffed mushrooms that were amazing. Crispy crab and juicy mushrooms. YUM. I had the filet trio that came with three small filets with different crusts. I got the mushroom, bernaise, and horseradish crusts. The mushroom one was the best, followed by the bernaise and then the horseradish. But they were all good. I felt like maybe it was too flavorful and distracted from the steak because Wildfire ages their meat for 3 weeks but in the end, I'm glad I tried it. We ended with a slice of pumpkin pie to put us into the Halloween holiday spirit.

Life is sweet.

A Bittersweet Weekend

It's been a wonderful weekend for the most part. Friday evening, I picked Armand and Irina up and we ate at El Llano, a hole-in-the-wall Colombian place that can boast of the fact that they have the best yuca I've ever tasted. I had a chicken and steak combination dish with yuca, rice, and fried plantain. Like I said in my previous post, we then saw "Orpheus Descending" at the American Theatre Company, which is a small local theatre that puts on big productions. The play was marvelous. The story is heartbreaking, with a lot of drama, sadness, violence, and an ending that will make you feel the Injustice of this world. The only criticism that I have is the southern accents were for the most part, not-so-great.

But the sad news for the weekend is that Armand's grandmother passed away on Friday. He found out when we got back from the play. She was old and she's been in and out of the hospital all year but it seemed like she was doing better... Death is one of the scariest things I have ever had to deal with in my life; a fact of life that I had to face when my grandpa died in November 2000, while I was in England. sigh. I still get emotional whenever someone's grandparent dies because it's easy to remember...

Yet, the party still went on and Saturday, Armand hosted a big Birthday/Halloween party. Here are the pictures. We had Cat Poop Cookies, Tarantulas, and Witch's Brew in a cauldron. I love Target. They have so much shit for $1!!!

I am busy tonight because I have to read applications for the Admissions Committee meeting on Tuesday.

Life is sweet.

The Little Things in Life Matter When There Are Big Things Going On

I took Step 2 Clinical Knowledge yesterday and boy was that test a Marathon. It's a nine-hour exam composed of 8 sections with 46 questions each, for 1 hour. Then a total of 45 minutes for break time and a 15 minute introduction to the computer system upon which the exam is taken. The old adage is that you study 4 weeks for Step 1, two weeks for Step 2, and you show up with a pencil for Step 3. These are the United States medical licensing exams. Step 1 is mostly basic science oriented and is taken at the end of second year of medical school, Step 2 is entirely clinically oriented and taken (sort of) any time during fourth year of medical school, and Step 3 is taken sometime during residency. So the reason why Step 1 is the Scariest is because residency programs use the score as part of your application. See, I already submitted my residency application so by the time I get my Step 2 score back, it won't even matter, as long as I passed. Some of my classmates took Step 2 earlier on during the fourth year, which started in July, so that they could have the score back for their application... but I preferred to have rotations during the summer so I could garner impressive (ha) recommendation letters for my application, rather than my Step 2 score. It's just a personal choice. Anyway, so the exam went fine, it felt better than Step 1, there were a few questions that were slam dunks, a few questions that were like "...huh...?!?!" and most of the questions I felt I knew at least something about. Yay! I actually learned something during my $200,000 medical school education! :) Even more great, my stomach didn't hurt and my allergies actually stayed dormant throughout the entire test!!

I have a question to those who have taken Step 3 or will take Step 3... I don't understand residents who show up to the test center in scrubs? I mean, are they post-call or about to take call or something? Really! It's a bit ridiculous.

I tried to celebrate yesterday but everyone was either out of town on interviews or at an internal medicine dinner. However, I was lucky to have Joy accompany me to Sushi Wabi for a really nice, relaxed, indulgent dinner of Dragon, Tarantula, Spicy Tuna, and Caterpillar rolls, along with some Reisling. Life is sweet. But poor Joy had to be at the hospital at 5:30am this morning to preround for peds surgery! blech.

Today I am happy because I finished cleaning my apartment and I found a super close parking spot, even though it's street cleaning day. Tonight, I am going to see Tennessee Williams' "Orpheus Descending" at the American Theatre Company and a pre-show dinner at a local Colombian restaurant.

A Heroine in Rosa Parks

Before I get to the important part of this entry... today, for the first time in over a week, my stomach doesn't hurt. However, I have a splitting headache, even after I took three 200mg Advils. What would the USMLE Step 2 say about that?!?

Anyway. I read this story yesterday about Rosa Parks' death. Since then, of course, there have been several poignant articles about Rosa Parks, which I won't bother to link to. But I just wanted to say... do people realize what an important, amazing, beautiful woman passed away yesterday? Even the World Series stopped and honored her with a song. (just kidding) I am just in utter awe every time that I remember it was a woman, a black woman, who decided to sit down on that bus, back in 1955. Would I ever have had that kind of courage and resolve? Do I now?

It's not like the injustices of the world were solved with that one nonviolent act of protest. But it was a huge step forward. I wonder what kind of world we would be living in, or more specifically, what kind of America? Would I have been allowed to attend the schools that I did? Would I have been allowed to step into a room of a hurting person and be his/her doctor? It's hard to separate racism and sexism in my mind, and I strongly believe that Rosa Parks did as much for racism and the civil rights movement as she did for sexism and the feminist movement. On the day of her death (or day after), I am proud to be female and non-white. Thank you, Rosa Parks, for the inspiration.

Where Fun Comes To Die, or at least tries to...

So this morning, my timing was a little off and I arrived at the library before it was even open! Boy, did I feel like a big loser, waiting with the rest of the Big Losers, waiting, waiting, until "they" let us in. What kind of library at an academic powerhouse such as this one, opens at 8am!?! I'm sure if they opened at 6am, there would be people lined up at 5:55am.

The undergraduates have this shirt that says "Where Fun Comes To Die"... It makes me laugh. They also have a shirt that says "Where the only thing that goes down on you, is your GPA." But shouldn't it make me cry? I shouldn't talk because I'm the one who paid money to rent a locker in the library, in which I can leave all my useless books, and feel like I OWN A PART OF THIS LIBRARY.

I feel very territorial about My Table at the library, on the 4th floor. Actually, I have two tables. One is by my locker and one is by a coat hanger. The other day, I saw a little spider-friend on the coat hanger. When I went by this morning, he was gone. :( Every day, I see a lot of the same people, mostly graduate students who look very industrious, working on their theses, with big heavy tomes, and laptops upon which they type very loudly and very quickly. I think about their tenure here at the university... most of them will probably be here longer than I have been. The difference being that I get out of the library every once in a while and interact with real-live patients, and they are stuck in here, with their laptops and written print. I wonder what that's like...

Luckily, I'm taking Step 2: Clinical Knowledge on Thursday so I won't have to live here much longer. The prison break is occuring Thursday evening and continuing through the Halloween Weekend!

An Experiment

I used to play the violin, read books for pleasure, and have a website. Three and a half years of medical school have consumed some of the better parts of me. I have a sneaking suspicion that I might be boring now. But I have a lot of ideas... and a lot of pictures to share with you.

This was taken in June 2005 in Olympic National Park, Washington.